Hofner Contemporary Series Verythin Guitar

18th fret, giving unfettered access
to the Verythin’s 22 medium jumbo
wires. Unlike early models, famous for
their black and white tramline position
markers, the Contemporary’s cream-
bound rosewood fi ngerboard is home
to pearl dot markers, with a trio of
them at the octave. Hofner’s vine inlay
and script logo fi ll the large, rounded
headstock perfectly, with tulip-style
tuners completing the picture.
Unlike early Verithins, which
sported the jazzier trapeze tailpiece,
the Standard CT brings us more
familiar fare, with stop-bar and tune-
o-matic bridge anchoring and guiding
the strings over two humbucking
pickups. Hofner tells us that while
the instrument is built in China, the
pickups are superior Korean units.
These are governed by a Gibson-like
quartet of control knobs, with a volume
and tone for each pickup, along with a
three-way pickup selector.
Generally, build quality and fi nish
are excellent, although there’s some
polyester lacquer build-up around
the neck joint. However, most players
won’t even notice this.
On picking up the Verythin, a wide
and medium-deep ‘C’-section neck
greets the left hand. The action is low
enough for comfort but with enough
string clearance for bending, while the
frets are well fi nished and the action
rattle free. There’s plenty of space for
the hand up to fi rst
position A at the 15th
fret, but the Hofner’s
shallow cutaways mean
access to the ultimate
fret isn’t perfect.
However, we had a
vintage Gibson ES-335
for comparison, and
surprisingly, there was
no difference at all.
The guitar’s minimal
weight certainly adds
to the overall playing
experience too – on a strap, you’d
hardly know it was there.
SOUN D S: Korean pickups have
earned a great reputation for
producing tough, powerful tones.
They’re used by some of the world’s
top manufacturers so their presence on
this Chinese guitar is reassuring.
A much more lightly built instrument
than an ES-335, we were expecting
springy, dynamic tones from the
Verythin CT – its maple
neck and solid centre
section seemed likely
to add both brightness
and sustain. Using a
Cornford Hurricane
set clean with a touch
of ambient reverb, the
neck pickup produced
warm and clear tones
that owed more to
Fender, or Epiphone’s
P-90-equipped Casino,
than Gibson. There’s
power aplenty, but delivered in a
measured way, with more bass and
treble tones than honking middle.
Flipping over to the bridge, there’s
an edgy, bright sound that demands
big Oasis open chords or jangly indie
solos. In the centre, things go distinctly
country, with one pickup subtracting
from the other to reveal a twangy tone
of which Duane Eddy would be proud.
The Verythin handled overdrive
surprisingly well, too. However, if you
crank up the front end too much, the
defi nition becomes lost, and too much
power will still evoke that hollowbody
yowl of yore.
There’s real personality to this
guitar’s tones, though, with a range
that would make it perfectly suitable
for anything from jazz through to blues,
pop and light rock.
Violin Bass CT
There’s something about a live
encounter with the Hofner Violin
bass that turns this usually rational
reviewer’s legs to jelly, as well as
inducing an “I need one” thought.
It goes deeper than the Beatles
connection too. Perhaps it’s the
symmetrical shape, so familiar on
several long-established string
instruments, the diminutive size and
weight, or the unexpected thump
that it delivers. Whatever it is, the
attraction is palpable.
Once upon a time, these were
cheaply available alternatives to
owning a ‘real’ bass like a Fender or
a Gibson, but the Merseybeat boom
changed all that. Like the Verythin
CT, this new Violin bass is way more
affordable than the German-made
102 SUMMER 2006
HOFNER CONTEMPORARY SERIES VERYTHIN GUITAR & VIOLIN BASS £425 & £450
ELECTRICS & BASS GUITARIST INTERACTIVE
HOFNER VIOLIN CT
PRICE: £450
ORIGIN: China
TYPE: Hollowbody
four-string bass
BODY: Pressed laminate
spruce top and laminated
fl ame maple back and
sides, fully bound
NECK: Laminated
maple with mahogany
centre strip
SCALE LENGTH:
768mm (30.25-inches)
NUT/WIDTH: Plastic/
41.5mm
FINGERBOARD: Pearl-
dotted rosewood
FRETS: 22, medium
jumbo plus zero fret
BRIDGE: Traditional
Hofner fl oating wooden
bridge with fret wire
saddles, separate
tailpiece, chrome-plated
twin-strip open-gear
tuners with pearloid
buttons
STRING SPACING,
BRIDGE: 14mm average
(centres)
ELECTRICS: Two Hofner
‘Staple’-design pickups,
two volume controls,
lead/rhythm switch,
treble and bass switches
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.8/4.0
LEFT-HANDERS: No
RANGE OPTION: The
Vintage 63 kicks off their
German-made Violin
bass range at £1,210.
The 50th Anniversary
Violin bass is now
available at £3,100
FINISHES: Sunburst (as
reviewed), black
HOFNER VIOLIN TEST RESULTS
Build quality
Playability
Sound
Value for money
■ WE LIKED Classic design; big sound;
second strap button
■ WE DISLIKED The keener price means
a case costs extra
This is a beautifully
constructed bass
that will fool even
the best of experts
into thinking it’s the
real thing, without
some very close
inspection indeed
The Violin bass’s
legendary pickup
selector circuit is
retained
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